June 13, 2022

DSM's Sustell system now available for salmon aquaculture sector

Royal DSM has announced the introduction of its environmental lifecycle assessment system, Sustell, to the salmon aquaculture industry.

Sustell was first introduced for terrestrial species in 2021, but DSM has now developed a salmon version, following a project with Faroese salmon producer Bakkafrost, which is now using the system to model and reduce the environmental footprint of their salmon farming operations.

"The collaboration with DSM underpins the commitment of both companies to significantly accelerate and future-proof sustainable salmon," said Regin Jacobsen, chief executive officer of Bakkafrost, in a press release. "With Sustell, we will have access to science-based calculation and analysis of 19 different environmental categories for our operations. This will allow Bakkafrost to calculate, using real data from our feed production and farming sites, to model and then adopt interventions to reduce the environmental footprint of salmon farming,"

DSM has developed Sustell together with Blonk, an independent expert and leader in life cycle analysis (LCA) in food and agriculture.

According to DSM, the system allows customers to establish the baseline environmental footprint of their animal production using their actual farm and feed data rather than industry averages and proxy data sets, and then develop case-specific intervention scenarios known as ‘what-if' models to make measurable sustainability improvements.

David Nickell, vice president of sustainability and business solutions at DSM Animal Nutrition and Health, said: "Having real, credible and accurate data will unlock an entire set of opportunities for seafood producers and their value chain partners. We designed Sustell to simplify the complexity of measuring, validating and improving the environmental sustainability of animal protein transparently and scientifically, farm by farm, system by system.

"We put strong emphasis on a robust and great user experience that enables our customers to gain powerful insights into their business and make considered, targeted contributions to improving the sustainability of their animal protein production. Through Sustell, we make the invisible visible and unlock the value of sustainability."

Hans Blonk, CEO of Blonk Consultants & Blonk Sustainability Tools, said: "Fish plays an essential role in a sustainable diet. More and more fish is derived from aquaculture. Therefore, we are very excited with the launch of Sustell for salmon and support producers in continuously improving the environmental performance of aquaculture systems worldwide."

- DSM